Daily Mail and General Trust announced plans to sell Northcliffe as
it revealed operating profit for the year to October up 14 per cent to
£207.2 million on turnover up 1 per cent to £2,138 million.
Northcliffe
is the group’s biggest source of cash, with operating profit of £102
million (up 1.5 per cent on last year) and turnover level at £520
million.
Advertising grew by two per cent in the year to October,
dropping in the second half of the year due to a “slowing economy”.
Cutbacks at Bristol (Western Daily Press and Bristol Evening Post)n
increased profits there by 10 per cent.
The local newspaper websites moved into profit for the year and circulation revenue was up 1.6 per cent thanks to price rises.
Related
The
national newspapers division, Associated Newspapers, reported profit up
5 per cent to £95.1 million on turnover down 1 per cent to £877 million.
The
division includes the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday, Metro and Evening
Standard. All titles suffered a decline in advertising revenue apart
from Metro which was up 13.8 per cent.
DMGT made the rest of its
money from DMG Information (£14.9 million), Euromoney Institutional
Investor (£39 million), exhibitions (£24.6 million) and broadcasting
(£1.8 million).
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Although DMGT is a public limited company, it
remains firmly under the control of the Harmsworth family, which
founded it in 1922, in the shape of the current Lord Rothermere,
Jonathan Harmsworth. Rothermere Continuation Ltd controls 63.1 per cent
of the voting equity and Codan Trust (trustees of Esmond Harmsworth)n
controls 29.3 per cent.
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